...and that's the end of voting. More with a whimper than a spectacular roar, but I'm tired of holding the competition hostage with perpetual voting.Here are the results:

The golden trophy of spectacularness goes to Mandle with eight votes. I thought a flaming crash would have been a more spectacular conclusion, but that'd probably be too obvious.

The silver trophy of spectacularity goes to Sinitrena with seven votes. I like the depth and texture of the setting in your stories all set in the same background world, although I might be biased having read all of them. Does the world have a name we can refer to it by? Otherwise I'm calling it Sinitrenia (so you'd better choose one ).

The bronze trophy of spectacularment goes to FunnyBoy044 with five votes. I, too, was confused by the presence of some components of the chain reaction in the factory, but the basic plot was compelling.

Most Thought Provoking:...... Yeah, not really sure what purpose this vote category fills. It seems more an unneeded slot to fill rather than something that actually applies to writing/reading stories in general. Unless maybe we have an "Aesop's Fables" theme perhaps...)

Of course as the new comp administrator you may choose whichever voting categories you like, but I feel the "thought provoking" category has merit. We focus a lot in our voting on the elements of writing (setting, atmosphere, plot, character, word style) but not so much on the message, which is really the whole point of writing anything in the first place. Just my opinion.

And now I happily turn over contest administration to Mandle, be it his burden to bear for the next fortnight and change. I for one am looking forward to the new topic in the next exciting instalment of....

The Square Of Flowers: This story could be brilliant if I read it as part of a larger work that spoke of a world I was already familiar with. The author is obviously very familiar with her world and walks within it with confidence.[...] There were a few moments when I got interested: The mysterious figure perched on the rooftop. The fingers for sale as souvenirs at the stalls. [...] But for me I felt kinda like I had walked into the wrong movie after a bathroom break and watched a scene or two of it before realizing my mistake. Keep writing your world though, mate... It seems like a very interesting place when read within its full context!

I find it interesting which parts hooked you, because, to be honest, the fingers for sale were just to create an atmosphere, without any meaning. I just wrote them in without thinking. Something I really shouldn't do in a larger universe.As for walking into the wrong movie, yes, I know what you mean. This story is not just part of a universe, it's part of another idea for a story I had in this world. So I probably ended up with some elements that really didn't help this story as a standalone.Thanks for your critique. It was helpful.

The silver trophy of spectacularity goes to Sinitrena with seven votes. I like the depth and texture of the setting in your stories all set in the same background world, although I might be biased having read all of them. Does the world have a name we can refer to it by? Otherwise I'm calling it Sinitrenia (so you'd better choose one ).

Sinitrenia? That sounds particularly awful I refer to these stories in my head as the Stories from the Connected Continents (which doesn't make any sense to you because this geographical feature wasn't mentioned yet - oh well ), or as the Lomin-series, because Lomin is the link between all the stories (he shows up in all of them or is mentioned, although he's not always named or named something different - have fun re-reading and looking for him )

Sinitrenia? That sounds particularly awful I refer to these stories in my head as the Stories from the Connected Continents (which doesn't make any sense to you because this geographical feature wasn't mentioned yet - oh well ), or as the Lomin-series, because Lomin is the link between all the stories (he shows up in all of them or is mentioned, although he's not always named or named something different - have fun re-reading and looking for him )

Your Lomin Series is pretty great, have you ever thought about having the stories published as some kind of anthology book?

Your Lomin Series is pretty great, have you ever thought about having the stories published as some kind of anthology book?

This raises a good question, what becomes of everyone's entries post-comp?

I stick my favorites up on shortnovella.com, and then my whopping 4.7 visitors per month apparently skim them for 6.74 (average) seconds before departing. Still, I like the theory of putting my writing out there.

This raises a good question, what becomes of everyone's entries post-comp?

I stick my favorites up on shortnovella.com, and then my whopping 4.7 visitors per month apparently skim them for 6.74 (average) seconds before departing. Still, I like the theory of putting my writing out there.

I don't enter as much as I'd like due to time restrictions, but all my entries are stored on my computer. I tend to use the same setting for this as for some of my novels, and this contest helps develop those worlds. They're mostly vignettes though, so not worth putting online, but I want to reuse my Whodunnit entry at some point. I liked that one

This brings up another interesting question: would game-related stories (ie, game fanfic) be allowed? I've always wanted to post one of mine but I'm worried I'll be breaking some kind of unwritten rule :S

I thought a flaming crash would have been a more spectacular conclusion, but that'd probably be too obvious.

I actually started to write the spectacular crash you mention, and then backspaced and abandoned that storyline, for the exact reason you mention: It was too obvious...

I am honoured to win this round and will be thinking hard on the next theme...

And, yeah, I will actually create trophies this time. Sorry about that other time, but the eventual trophies by Baron were way too good to miss out on, so I guess something positive was added to the universe in the absence of my contribution...

I feel the "thought provoking" category has merit. We focus a lot in our voting on the elements of writing (setting, atmosphere, plot, character, word style) but not so much on the message, which is really the whole point of writing anything in the first place.

Incorrect! The only point of writing is to win little pixel trophies. They are the only thing that give life any meaning!